The Undying Tyrant
WARNING: This page is fan fiction and therefore non-canonical. The Undying Tyrant was a Chaotic Neutral deity of necromancy and healing. He was a lesser power in the pantheon of Exandria whose influence did not extend far outside of its origins in Stillben, a swampland city in Tal'dorei. His existence and dogma was extremely divisive among gods, their followers, and necromancers alike. His symbol was a human skull with green, glowing eyes and biting down on a silver dagger. Followers His followers were often chaotically aligned, neutral or even good necromancers (sometimes referred to as grey and white necromancers), although more traditional "black magic" practitioners were not unheard of. Some of the priesthood were not themselves necromancers or clerics but still had great adoration for their god. Mundane followers were usually those with a connection to life and death, like physicians, apothecaries, herbalists, midwives and even grave keepers. Relations with the Gods The Undying Tyrant was a divisize figure. His domains placed him in competition with other gods, like The Whispered One (Vecna) over necromancy or The Dawnfather (Pelor) for healing. This was not entirely uncommon as the healing domain was also shared with other minor deities like The Everlight (Saranrae). His moderate position on necromancy and undeath made him distasteful but tolerable among good-aligned deities and simultaneously hated by evil-aligned deities. The Matron of Ravens, who despised undead and oversaw the domain of death, had no great love for him. At the same time, the Undying Tyrant did not force undeath or life extension to his followers. Rather, he offered it as an alternative choice. Those that chose a natural death were accepted and offered all the same to the embrace of the Matron. This alone stayed her hand of vengeance, although she remained watchful and distrusting of him due to their opposed alignments (i.e. lawful neutral vs. chaotic neutral). Symbolism "Death is a curse and a wicked king. I am not death. I am the thing that Death fears. I am its cruel and oppressive ruler! I am the Undying Tyrant: the creature who will not serve the forces of ending!" As a first impression, the Undying Tyrant was often discarded as an upstart, evil deity with an imposing title and domain over evil things, like necromancy. However, his existence brought forth a great schism among necromancers, dividing those with evil intent from those concerned with more neutral or even goodly ideals. This drained power from truly evil forces, like the Whispered One, who also had a domain in necromancy. The Undying Tyrant As a mortal necromancer, he wrote in his journals: "Who are the gods to say when our time of ending must be? It is a grand joke to them, that some are born with few fleeting years, and even the ancient ones must be stripped of their aeon of accomplishments. Death should be a thing a man chooses, and I would never seek to take that choice from him." "Ah, Death! You are a cruel force. I have no choice but to be a greater foe than you. Where you take, I shall give. For only you, will I reign in dominance. I shall enslave you as a tyrant would, an eternal and undying watcher. That's a bitter name for those that worship death: The Undying Tyrant!" It was also said he bore a tattoo on his left arm of a black-robed skeleton framed by the words, "Undying Tyrant". The Human Skull The race of the skull is ultimately irrelevant, but chosen as the Undying Tyrant's mortal beginnings as human. As a symbol is serves as a so-called "inoculation against death". By accepting a mark of death, the skull, it portrayed a lack of fear. The glowing eyes were said to represent an inner power that persists even after the physical body is gone. The Silver Dagger The silver dagger was a weapon wielded by The Undying Tyrant in his mortal life. Silver was also a common weapon used against undead and other powerful, magical creatures. Origins The Undying Tyrant was once a human necromancer named Aldym Meleghost who arrived in Exandria after passing through a portal from Faerun. He adventured in the areas around Stillben and Westruun before encountering the essence of a thought-to-be dead god, the Rotting Lord, or Moander. Aldym underestimated the true nature of the Rotting Lord and offered service to him in return for power, becoming a warlock. Aldym struggled to reconcile his own ideals against those of the Rotting Lord. Over many months the two battled wills. Often the result was painful and brutal for Aldym and those around him, but during this time the necromancer learned many secrets. He realized that the Rotting Lord had indeed been dead but only recently reborn. Still in a relatively weakened state, his patron could be overcome. As Aldym grew in talent, he managed to strike weakness into the Rotting Lord, although the exact method of this is uncertain. As punishment, his warlock abilities were stripped away, but Aldym was not fazed. Eventually, Aldym and his loyal allies came to battle with the Rotting Lord's avatar. The battle was nearly fatal for everyone, but Aldym somehow emerged victorious. Unexpectedly, Aldym consumed the divine spark within the Rotting Lord. The two spirits, god and mortal, merged violently, but Aldym survived. His warlock abilities were restored and enhanced. As this godly power grew in him, his weak, mortal flesh threatened to breech and be destroyed. Using necromancy he staved off this fate by transferring his soul into different and more powerful bodies. Inevitably even that was not enough, and Aldym had no choice but to enter into a state similar to astral projection. This entire process took years. When his projected spirit arrived on the astral plane, the godly powers in him were fully unlocked. The gaze of all gods turned to him, some with great interest, others with fear, and others with dire hatred. Dogma * The Undying Tyrant believed the physical body was ultimately expendable but integral to undestanding the living soul. While a soul inhabited a body it was important to care for it, as physical health aided in spiritual health. The faithful were encouraged to study necromancy, anatomy, and the practices of healing and herbalism in order to pursue good health. Body and mind-altering vices like drinking alcohol and using narcotics was looked down upon, but not banned outright. The faithful were expected to spread these beliefs by providing medical services to their communities, often free of charge or for a modest donation. * The Undying Tyrant advocated for the use of undead as servants or as a path to extending one's life, such as using clones, transferring a soul into an younger or undead body, or even lichdom. The use skeletons (and sometimes zombies) as servants and protectors was not uncommon among his faithful. However, he also discouraged the creation or use of more powerful and cunning undead, like ghouls and wights. Followers of the Undying Tyrant would sometimes hunt and kill "unmastered" undead. His symbol, the silver dagger, was meant to represent a weapon against the undead. * Lastly, the Undying Tyrant has a great distrust for the powers-that-be and encourages his followers to embrace a chaotic nature. Serving the self is most important, and only when such actions interfere with the freedom of others do they need to be corrected. Altruism is not uncommon, especially among white necromancers in his faith. The Undying Tyrant is pleased by this, so long as their self-sacrifice is made from free choice and not compelled. Slavery and other such forms of oppression are great sins and the faithful are encouraged to do what they can to dispel them. __FORCETOC__ __STATICREDIRECT__